Akira Watanabe (racing driver)

Akira Watanabe
Akira Watanabe
Nationality	Japanese
Born	15 December 1954 (age 69); Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan
Previous series
1975; 1985; 1988; 1992, 1995; 1998–2007	Fuji Freshman Race; All Japan Endurance Championship; Japanese Formula Two Championship; Japanese Touring Car Championship; Super GT

Akira Watanabe (渡辺明, Watanabe Akira, born 15 December 1954)^[1] is a retired Japanese racing driver.

Racing career

Watanabe first began competing in 1975 in the Fuji Freshman Race. He is a noted touring car racing specialist, winning multiple championships in Super Taikyu and the Civic Inter Cup.^[1] He competed in a round of the 1988 Japanese Formula 3 Championship at Sendai Hi-Land Raceway but failed to qualify; he would be replaced by Hisashi Wada for the next round.^{[citation needed]}

Watanabe first competed in Super GT in 1985 but did not race full-time until 1998; in that year, he drove a Toyota Cavalier for KRAFT. He last competed in Super GT in 2007. After retiring from active motorsports, Watanabe drove the medical car in Super GT and is still involved with the medical team in some way.^[2]

Racing record

Complete JSPC results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Car	Class	1	2	3	4	5	6	DC	Points
1985	Tokico	Mazda RX-7 254	B	SUZ	FUJ DNS	FUJ Ret	SUZ Ret	FUJ	FUJ	NC	0

Complete Japanese Formula 3 results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	DC	Points
1988	Choro-Q Racing Team Meiju	Reynard 873	Volkswagen GX 2.0 I4	SUZ	TSU	FUJ	SUZ	SUG	TSU	SEN DNQ	SUZ	NIS	SUZ	NC	0

Complete Japanese Touring Car Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Car	Class	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	DC	Points
1992	Team Over Take	BMW M3 Sport Evolution (E30)	JTCｰ2	TAI	AUT	SUG 7	SUZ	MIN	TSU Ret	SEN 6	FUJ									26th	10
1995	Trans Global	BMW 318i (E36)	JTCC	FUJ1	FUJ2	SUG1	SUG2	TOK1	TOK2	SUZ1	SUZ2	MIN1	MIN2	TAI1	TAI2	SEN1 20	SEN2 21	FUJ1	FUJ2	NC	0

Complete Super GT results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Car	Class	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	DC	Points
1998	KRAFT	Toyota Cavalier	GT300	SUZ	FUJ	SEN 10	FUJ 11	MOT 12	MIN 7	SUG 9			24th	7
2000	Team Daikokuya	Porsche 911 RSR	GT300	MOT	FUJ	SUG	FUJ Ret	TAI	MIN	SUZ 10			30th	1
2001	Team Daikokuya	Porsche 911 GT3-R	GT300	TAI Ret	FUJ 7	SUG	FUJ Ret	MOT 16	SUZ	MIN			20th	4
2001	Cars Tokai Dream28	Honda NSX	GT300	TAI	FUJ	SUG	FUJ	MOT	SUZ 13	MIN			20th	4
2002			GT300	TAI 9	FUJ 14	SUG 4	SEP 8	FUJ 10	MOT Ret	MIN Ret	SUZ 9		16th	22
2003			GT300	TAI 5	FUJ Ret	SUG 5	FUJ 21	FUJ 9	MOT 19	AUT 13	SUZ 8		14th	22
2004			GT300	TAI 18	SUG Ret	SEP 17	TOK 17	MOT 14	AUT 20	SUZ 22			NC	0
2005	Verno Tokai Dream28	Vemac RD320R	GT300	OKA 14	FUJ 13	SEP 14	SUG 9	MOT 6	FUJ Ret	AUT 14	SUZ 6		14th	12
2006	Team Mach	Vemac RD320R	GT300	SUZ	OKA	FUJ	SEP	SUG	SUZ 18	MOT	AUT	FUJ	NC	0
2007	Ebbro Team Nova	Vemac RD350R	GT300	SUZ	OKA	FUJ	SEP	SUG	SUZ 6	MOT	AUT	FUJ	23rd	5

References

^ ^a ^b "2005 Driver Information". Super GT (in Japanese). Retrieved 28 June 2023.
^ "スーパーGT選手権FROの凄さと奥深さ". Toyota Gazoo Racing (in Japanese). 20 November 2019. Retrieved 28 June 2023.

External links

Akira Watanabe career summary at DriverDB.com

[akira-1] "2005 Driver Information". Super GT (in Japanese). Retrieved 28 June 2023.

[fro-2] "スーパーGT選手権FROの凄さと奥深さ". Toyota Gazoo Racing (in Japanese). 20 November 2019. Retrieved 28 June 2023.

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